


The Magpie

by empressearwig



Category: Heist Society Series - Ally Carter
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressearwig/pseuds/empressearwig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm the girl who happened to be home the night Hale came to steal a Monet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Magpie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theepiccek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theepiccek/gifts).



> I meant this to be something more elaborate, but I hope you enjoy this snippet anyway! Happy yuletide!

"I don't think you're supposed to be here."

Overhead, the chandelier lit and Hale blinked, the light harsh in his eyes. He turned his head to find a short--tiny, really--dark-haired girl wearing Wonder Woman pajama pants standing in the arched doorway. He could only assume that was the daughter of the house, the one he'd been told was supposed to be in Cannes with her parents for Christmas. "Neither are you."

The girl didn't so much as blink at that, and Hale had to give her credit for her self-control. Most rich girls would have run screaming from the room by the now, to call the police or the butler or their daddy or someone. But then maybe she didn't have anyone to call, what with the house supposed to be empty and all. She came closer, nodding at the painting. "Like it?"

Hale turned back to look at the Monet that stretched the length of the wall. "It's beautiful," he said. "Too bad it isn't real."

Her jaw actually dropped. It was kind of adorable. "I assure you it is."

"Look, princess--"

"Kat," she interrupted, through gritted teeth. "My name is Kat."

"--suits you," Hale said, nodding his head. "Yeah. Anyway, _Kat_ , you might say I have a professional interest in knowing these things. And that thing, however beautiful, is a fake."

"My grandmother bought that painting in 1953."

Hale shrugged. "Well, either she bought a forgery or she lost the original in the last sixty years. Either way, that means there's nothing left for me to do here. It was nice to meet you."

He started towards the window, intent on getting the hell out before chatting up the person she caught not robbing her house lost its novelty for Kat. He really didn't want to have to explain that to Uncle Eddie. Or his dad. But mostly Uncle Eddie.

"Wait," Kat said.

He turned his upper body, his knee already propped up on the ledge of the window he'd come in. "Yes, princess?"

"Take me with you," she said.

Hale blinked, certain he'd heard her wrong. "Excuse me?"

Kat came closer, looking at him with an utterly serious expression on her pretty face. "Take me with you," she repeated. "You steal things. Well, you don't have to steal me, I'm volunteering to go with."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said shortly, still trying to process that Katarina Bishop--because that's who she had to be, even if he hadn't gotten her full name--was asking him to take her with him, into a life of crime. "Someone would miss you. And that wouldn't end well for me."

"No," Kat said. Sadness flitted across her face for just an instant, before her features hardened back into the resolve that he was coming to associate with her. "There's no one that would miss me."

Hale finally lowered his knee and turned all the way back around to face her. "Why?" he asked. "Because if this is some rich girl looking for a thrill thing…"

"It's not," she said. "Well, it's not _all_ that."

He nodded, waited for her to continue. At least she was honest. Just because he stole for a living, didn't mean he didn't appreciate honesty. 

Kat shrugged her thin shoulders. "I don't know. I just feel like I'm supposed to do this. Go with you. I know it sounds crazy."

Hale studied her, arms folded over his chest. She seemed sincere, but Hale was from a family where fake sincerity was learned alongside the ABCs. He tried to imagine what Uncle Eddie would say if instead of a painting he brought back the heiress to the Bishop family fortune. Stealing art was fun, but stealing a person? Well, Hale had never tried that. Maybe it would be even better.

Kat looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Follow me, rich girl," he said.


End file.
